MANILA: Blackwater gave San Miguel Beer another distinction for this PBA Season that the Beermen would certainly want to lose as soon as possible.

The Elite on Wednesday night made the Beermen the first team — and a league force at that — to lose to both expansion franchises after an 80-77 upset in the Commissioner’s Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

“This is a moment we can really cherish,” Blackwater coach Leo Isaac said after his first win as a head coach. “We can use this victory to inspire us more, to make us more competitive.

“We just like to thank the Good Lord for allowing us this victory,” he continued. “It came a bit late, but we are still very thankful.”

Marcus Douthit scored 20 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and swatted away four enemy attempts in leading the Elite in snapping a 14-game losing streak that dates back to the Philippine Cup, which the Beermen ruled just three weeks ago.

Blackwater came into the contest just four more losses away from equaling the mark in futility, held by defunct Great Taste during the 1980 Season.

And most everyone thought that the Elite would be moving closer, considering that it was the rock-solid Beermen on the other end of the floor.

Blackwater was held to just 11 points in the first quarter – two in the last six minutes of the period – as the Elite trailed by twin digits early and looked headed to another one of those nights that has characterized the first five months of their PBA lives.

But the Elite persevered in the third and took a 60-52 lead into the fourth quarter by playing hard-nosed defense and heads-up offense.

San Miguel, which also lost to KIA Motors and later on to Barangay Ginebra, actually took a 71-68 lead after a three-pointer by Chris Lutz going into the final 4:14.

Gilbert Bulawan, Brian Heruela and Bam-Bam Gamalinda also hit some crucial shots in the stretch to back up the 6-foot-10 Douthit, who is just on loan from the Gilas Pilipinas program with original import Chris Charles still nursing an injured hamstring.

But the way things went for the Elite, and because of the way Douthit is playing, it would seem like Charles — the first reinforcement to arrive in the country — will not be getting a chance to lace his sneakers anymore.

“It’s actually a decision by management,” Isaac said. “But with the way Marcus has been playing, it will be very hard to decide on it.”

From that three-point deficit, Douthit hit four points, Heruela two, Gamalinda four straight and then Bulawan a put back of a Rob Celiz miss that eventually rounded out scoring with 10.6 seconds to go.

The Beermen had plenty of time to cook up the potential game-tying play, but Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter missed from the three-point arc to seal San Miguel’s third straight defeat.

June Mar Fajardo, the reigning MVP and Philippine Cup Best Player, still couldn’t get it going. The 6-foot-10 franchise player was on the floor for just 18 minutes and made just five points.

Fajardo was also not among the San Miguel players who finished the game, quite unusual since he was an integral reason why the Beermen won the Philippine Cup.

Ronald Roberts paced the Beermen with 18 points and Lutz finished with 16.

The latest tumble of the Beermen against another lightweight certainly took a lot of the luster away from defending champion Purefoods’ 87-62 thumping of listless NLEX in the nightcap.

Daniel Orton suited up for the first time and immediately gave the impression that he is what the doctor had ordered for the Star Hotshots, shooting 16 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and getting three blocks in just 32 minutes.

“There’s a reason why he was a first round pick in the NBA,” Purefoods coach Tim Cone proudly said of the man-mountain that replaced the hardworking Marqus Blakely.

The Road Warriors are also at 0-3 like San Miguel, while Purefoods claimed a piece of the lead with idle Meralco at 4-0.